Why 'Big' Ben Rothwell called out Travis Browne after UFC 164 victory

MILWAUKEE – Want to know why Ben Rothwell called out fellow heavyweight Travis Browne immediately after his win at UFC 164? “Big Ben” said the reason is simple.

“I just think it would be a great fight,” Rothwell said after the event. “I know he’s up there in the rankings right now. The UFC probably has big plans for him. But maybe they need him to have another tough fight for first (before a title shot), and I think it’d give him a good fight for the fans.

“That was it. I think it’s be a great fight.”

See, nothing personal. No bad bad blood. Just a tough opponent who can help Rothwell raise his own profile in the process.

Before Rothwell (33-9 MMA, 3-3 UFC) scored a third-round TKO over Brandon Vera (12-7 MMA, 8-7 UFC) on Saturday’s pay-per-view main card at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center, he and Browne were slated to fight at UFC on FOX 4 a year ago. However, Rothwell dropped off the card with an injury, and the fight was never rebooked.

Since then, Rothwell has suffered a submission loss to Gabriel Gonzaga before rebounding for the win over Vera, who moved up from light heavyweight for his first heavyweight fight in five years. Browne (15-1-1 MMA, 6-1-1 UFC), meanwhile, recently used a front kick to set up a TKO victory over former Strikeforce champ Overeem at UFC Fight Night 26. Browne is now 5-1 over his past six fights, with the lone loss coming to Antonio Silva in a fight in which “Hapa” tore a hamstring early in the bout.

“I was supposed to fight him a year ago,” Rothwell said. “We’ll see what happens. If not him, I’m sure I’ll get matched up with another good fighter.”

Browne, though, didn’t take the callout all that seriously.

“LOL @rothwellfighter had your chance a yr ago but you magically sprained your little toe and now you want to be given something I’ve earned,” he tweeted after the fight.

“I’m looking forward, not back.. You have some catching up to do son.”

As for Saturday’s win, Rothwell believes he may have turned a corner in his career. After two rounds, he was down on one scorecard and tied on the other two. But he went into attack mode in the third round as his opponent began to fade.

Additionally, he partially credits his peculiar third-fight dance, in which he shuffled his feet and bobbed his head before stalking after Vera and unloading the fight-ending barrage of punches and knees. While the dance itself didn’t win the fight, he said it excited the crowd, which in turn provided some extra motivation.

“I guess it’s not something you see out of a guy my size that often,” he said. “It came out, and once I started doing it, I heard the crowd as they reacted. It just triggered in mind. I said, ‘This is it.’ And he seemed shocked. I saw an opportunity, and I took it. … When I heard the crowd, I didn’t think about it. I just reacted.”

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